A Fixed Point
by Theta8
Summary: John has a family now, his wife Mary and a daughter, Holly. He gets a rude awakening when Sherlock's work intrudes on his home life. Sherlock has poor timing. John has words with him. Brief mentions of violence.


John woke from a sound sleep with Holly's little hand shaking his shoulder. "Daddy, I heard a noise." He rolled over to face her. Mary must have been downstairs. "What did you hear, Holly?" he asked as he scooped her onto the bed next to him. "I heard something downstairs." His question was answered by a creak and a scuffle on the stairs. The steps were too heavy to be Mary's.

"Holly, get under mum's side of the bed, don't make a sound and don't come out." He lifted her over the bed and retrieved his Browning from the side table drawer. He hadn't used it in years, but he still kept it in excellent condition. His army days and his years with Sherlock Holmes had ingrained the habit. He moved to the doorway, but before he got there, Mary stepped through; a stocky thug at her back. A slender, bald man followed them in, his voice was deep and gravely, he spoke with a thick Welsh accent, "Getting a bit crowded in here isn't it?" John had the gun aimed at him and focused on breathing. "How's about we move this outside to my van?"

John looked Mary in the eye and made the decision. It had been three years since he had shared a glance like that with Sherlock Holmes, at a swimming pool. He prayed silently.

They moved simultaneously. Mary elbowed the stocky man in the gut and twisted the gun from his hands. John fired at the bald man, hitting him clean in the forehead. When he dropped, Mary was pointing the gun at the stocky man. John took the liberty of clubbing him over the head and took the gun Mary had wrestled from him. He set both on the nightstand and flew to the other side of the bed. "Holly, it's alright." Mummy's here, everything's okay." Mary stooped down beside him. Holly lay curled up on her knees, hands wrapped over her head and had her eyes clamped shut. "Holly, look at me dear, it's okay now." she opened her big green eyes and crawled out. Mary held her close to her chest. "Did you see anything outside?" she shook her head. They must have parked somewhere else, there would be a driver waiting. "Get Holly a coat and shoes, I'll call the police." He instructed. "Don't turn on any lights, and don't go downstairs yet."

"Holly, I want you to keep your eyes closed for a moment, until Mummy takes you to your room." Mary whispered in her daughter's ear. She buried her head in the crook of her arm and Mary stepped carefully around the bodies. John grabbed a coat and shoes for Mary and himself. He tucked his own gun in his trousers and the other in his coat pocket and looked at the unconscious man. His observations were interrupted by a knock and a voice at the door, "John?" Sherlock Holmes and his unrivaled timing. His friend shouted again, "If you're trying to kidnap Dr. Watson you should know you've made a grave mistake!"

"Keep your shirt on, we're alright Sherlock!" John rushed to Holly's room where Mary was waiting.

"Come on, he'll break the door down if we keep him waiting." They bustled downstairs where Sherlock already stood in the entryway. Mary saw relief pass over his face when he made eye contact with John. "There's a cab outside and Dimmock is on his way."

"Got a lot of faith in me do you?" He jibbed at Sherlock for calling a homicide detective as he shuffled them outside. He didn't seem to notice, but that's Sherlock."Mycroft's always got an eye on Baker street, you'll be safe there" they stopped next to the cab and he took a moment for John. "If you're alright to stay John?" Sherlock exchanged a look with Mary. "Fifteen minutes." John set a limit and Sherlock clearly understood. Holly started to cry softly, "Where are we going Mummy?"

"We're going to Daddy's friend's house. Daddy's going to stay here for a bit to talk to the police and he'll follow us."

"Am I going to have to hide from the loud noises again?" Realisation passed over his face and Sherlock reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind Holly's ear. "Don't cry Holly; your father will always keep you safe." he put a hand on Mary's arm and looked her in the eye saying quietly, "And I will always keep him safe." The cab turned the corner and John shut the door behind Sherlock.

"What the HELL just happened Sherlock!" John roared. "My six year old daughter wakes me up in the middle of the night and my wife walks in to my room at gunpoint! I've got a criminal out cold on the floor of my bedroom and another man's brains on the wall!" The room rang with anger. He steadied his voice and continued in a quieter but equally intense tone, slow and purposeful, "This happened at my home, not Baker Street, my home; where I sleep in my bed with my wife and raise my child. This didn't happen to me, this happened to Mary and Holly." he quivered as the blood still raced through his system. Sherlock did a pitiful, and apologetic thing with his eyebrows. Thankfully the police sirens broke the tension.

"I'll go take care of the man upstairs." Sherlock offered. He didn't glean much from the scene in the bedroom. The police took away the bodies. The second man had expired in the mean time from a skull fracture. John cooled off and they searched around the block for a few minutes, it proved equally unfruitful. The men were connected to a case they'd worked a few months back which Sherlock hadn't quite tied up. John and his family were pawns in a move to flush out Holmes. Sherlock knew they would and he'd tracked them down, but he been barely quick enough figuring out their plans. The moment it clicked he'd turned the cab around. He assured John that the only loose ends were those now in body bags. While Sherlock sorted things out with the DI, John grabbed clothes for tomorrow morning and Holly's blanket. He paused for a moment and sat on the edge of her bed with her blanket in his lap, fiddling with the soft, yellow fabric. If something had gone wrong tonight, if Holly hadn't woken up, if Mary hadn't been able to fight off the gunman, if he hadn't heard the steps on the stair.

When Sherlock returned John's head was in his hands. He looked at Sherlock with red eyes. His hair was messy from sleep and he'd run his hands through it with worry.

"What if I can't protect them?" he spoke quietly, overcoming the tears in his throat. Sherlock joined him on the bedside.

"It only takes one mistake for me to learn my lesson John," he huffed in reply. "What I'm saying John, is that I will not fail again."

"Right, cause you're the infallible Sherlock Holmes. But I know you, I know how often you screw up." his tone was sharp and biting now. He stood up and turned away.

"John, I've never asked you into anything I didn't think you could handle. I will never let your family into a position where you cannot protect them." He looked unconvinced. "If I didn't trust you to protect yourself I wouldn't have bothered mentioning the flat to you." John turned and stared at him harshly.

"When I married I should have said, 'Forget the work, I'm moving on and left Baker Street for good." and with that John turned on his heel. Before he got to the stairs Sherlock came around front and stood on the stair below him, placing a hand on his shoulder and fixed him with those ice cold grey eyes.

"I considered saying precisely that when you got engaged. When Holly was born I could have vanished from your life and this never would have happened, John. I told Holly her father would always keep her safe because you've saved my life more times than I care to count." he let John breath, he let himself breath. "I took the risk of staying because I knew you could not fail. I am very often wrong John, I fail more than your blog lets on to the world and you know it. But you have never failed me. You are the one fixed point in my world, John. You are an anchor to which your family can hold."

"Fifteen minutes I said?" John blinked once and let nothing show in his face. "They'll be waiting for me."

"You can sleep in my bed, I won't be using it tonight. I'll be cleaning this up." He didn't answer.

The ever faithful Mrs. Hudson greeted them at the door. She looked him over and kissed John's forehead. He kept reassuring her he was alright.

"Mary and Holly fell asleep in your bed Sherlock, I hope you don't mind, I knew John would be coming along soon."

"Bless you Mrs. Hudson, I don't know what I'd do without you," John told her earnestly.

John looked at the sleeping girls and draped Holly's blanket over them. Getting into bed would only wake them and he wasn't tired anymore. He stopped Sherlock on his way out. "I won't be getting to sleep anytime soon."

"I'll be back by morning." Sherlock explained.

"Have I still got a set of clothes upstairs?" John asked. Sherlock nodded.

"Have you got your army pistol with you?" John gave a quick nod. "We'll be back before they wake." and he locked the door silently behind him.


End file.
